A few minutes before last night’s Thunder/Spurs game in San Antonio got underway, Kevin Durant was on the OKC bench casually chatting with Bruce Bowen. After the game started, KD must have felt like Bowen had never left. Facing a combination of quick, strong, tough and crafty defenders, Durant was harassed into his worst offensive performance in about two months … KD’s jumper with 3:30 left in the third quarter was the last time he saw the ball go in the basket. Late in the fourth, OKC trailed by one when Durant (21 pts, 7-19 FG) appeared to have a breakaway dunk, but Manu Ginobili caught up and perfectly timed his jump to swat it out of KD’s hands just as he was about to finish the job. (Good thing it was Durant and not LeBron, otherwise Manu would’ve lost his hand in the rim.) Manu, who led San Antonio with 26 points, then added a three-pointer and some free throws down the stretch to seal the win … Manu admitted later that he thought he was gonna get dunked on, but had to try for the block anyway. OKC coach Scott Brooks called it a “superhero” play. Less importantly, the Spurs snapped Durant’s 29-game streak of consecutive games scoring at least 25 points … Going into Lakers/Mavs, everybody wanted to see how the new-look Dallas squad would matched up with L.A. and gauge their status as an NBA Finals contender. But that story line fell apart right before tip-off, when it was announced Caron Butler had a “bad reaction to medication” and wouldn’t be playing … DeShawn Stevenson started in Caron’s place — which meant DeShawn Stevenson would be guarding Kobe — but by the end of the game, it was more about who on the Lakers was going to guard Dirk Nowitzki … Everybody from Lamar Odom to Kobe to Pau Gasol took their turns with Dirk, and every one of them was served a steaming hot bowl of Bucket Soup. One time when Kobe was checking him, Dirk (31 pts, 11-11 FT) spun on him going left, and when Kobe went for a block, he palmed Dirk’s forehead instead. Dirk still hit the jumper … ESPN tried to get D-Steve to start a feud with Kobe like he did with LeBron, but all Stevenson did was take another jab at LeBron. “I’m not saying anything at all,” he said. “I think Kobe is a much better all-around player (than LeBron), so I’m not saying anything.” … Speaking of that overdone beef, Jay-Z and Beyonce were sitting courtside the night after Jay had performed in Dallas. What’s up with the shades indoors? … Not sure if you noticed, but Brandon Jennings has hit the rookie wall hard. Not long after he was getting All-Star consideration, Jennings has at least four fellow rookie point guards outperforming him on a nightly basis: Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn and Darren Collison. Last night’s head-to-head between Collison (22 pts, 9 asts) and Jennings (9 pts, 4 asts) never materialized into anything near the shootout they had back in November, although the Bucks did get a 20-piece W … Jennings came out before the game and did some chalk-tossing. One of Milwaukee’s announcers said, “I don’t want him doing this LeBron James thing. He needs to come up with his own little shtick.” That same announcer had his own shtick: The complete butchering of Peja Stojakovic‘s name all night long. The closest he got was “Store-ahker-vick.” … Andrew Bogut immediately went at Emeka Okafor and scored the Bucks’ first six points, and would eventually finish with 26 and 13 boards in less than 30 minutes of PT. Was Bogut getting retribution for his man Luke Schenscher? … The Rockets are sinking fast. Last night they got Dwight Howard to pick up two fouls 20 seconds into the game and take a seat, and still got destroyed by Dwight when he made his way back. He dropped 30 points and 16 rebounds on 11-of-11 shooting/dunking from the field … Other big stat lines from Wednesday: Josh Smith put up 27 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in Atlanta’s win over Minnesota; Luol Deng had 31 points, 9 boards and 4 blocks to lead Chicago past Indiana; Zach Randolph‘s 22 and 9 boards helped Memphis beat Washington; Steve Nash went for 20 points (8-9 FG) and 13 dimes in Phoenix’s win over Philly; Carlos Boozer dropped 33 points and 16 boards on Charlotte in a win; Andre Miller posted 18 points, 10 boards, 7 dimes and 3 steals as Portland knocked off Toronto; and Drew Gooden (yes, Drew Gooden) put up 20 points and 13 boards as the Clippers (yes, he’s playing for the Clippers now) beat the Pistons … Announcer line of the night from Blazers color commetator Mike Rice: “If you can’t beat (Rasho) Nesterovic and Bargnani down the court, you don’t deserve to score.” … We’re out like the streak …

No at all Khalvin. Richard Jefferson simply won’t allow it. It’ll be two of the Lakers-Mavs-Nuggets-Jazz quartet.

02.25.10 at 8:15 am

rangerjohn

finally the spurs get up top on a smack, to bad dime had to ruin it with their bullshit love of lebron james, i mean damn the man didnt play yesterday, can you PLEASE take the nuts out of your mouth i mean damn.

manu is looking like the manu of old, now if we could only rest parker for a little bit and TRY to get him a little closer to healthy. pop needs to shut his ass down this summer too.

02.25.10 at 8:32 am

jimmhumm

Dallas or denver will beat the spurs in the play offs. They have decent bigmen and to many scorers for the spurs defense.

02.25.10 at 8:43 am

POPPI GEE

Have to agree with ranger that Lebron comment could have been left out. LeBron overload. Personally I don’t even like that cat this year really since he bailed on the dunk contest. Really hoping he doesn’t win it all.

Mannnuuuuuuuu did the thing with the bald spot. ESPN had me cracking up with talking about his bald spot. He got that block though, clean.

I was hoping Durant would keep going too. If any team would stop it though, it would be the Spurs.

Dallas showed Memphis how you kill the Lakers. You can’t play with them and give them a whole bunch of chances to win it. You have to put them down!

Good games going on lately, playoff atmosphere is in the air.

Houston you just getting what you deserve. Martin? Seriously I ain’t seen enough yet. Somewhere Landry, T-Mac, and Dorsey are laughing. And I hope they not counting on Ming to be the savior next year cause he is really Greg Odenish with the injuries. Again just getting what they deserve.

Brandon Jennings was fun to watch while he lasted.

02.25.10 at 8:48 am

Mike Honcho

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Thunder make it to the “final four” out west….also wouldn’t be shocked if the Lebron’s get knocked off early

02.25.10 at 8:48 am

mules

A plate of bucket soup? Soup comes in cups or bowls, homie…even in Germany.

02.25.10 at 8:57 am

fallinup

Haha… glad I read the comments cause I was gonna say the same things ranger and poppi said. For real… he didn’t even friggin play last night and I still gotta hear the gushing for him. I’m surprised Bron isn’t in the tags. LOL @ Dime’s Mancrush.

02.25.10 at 9:00 am

Spliff 2 My Lou

I hate when somebody serves bucket soup on a plate. It’s messy. I much prefer a bowl.

Maybe Jay-Z’s shades were prescription. Isn’t he like 50 something?

You guys think that Dime is on Lebrons jock know you better damn well hope he doesn’t sign with the Knicks. The mancrush could turn into a full on boner.

02.25.10 at 9:01 am

Beach Muscles

Ease up on the hate, people. The comment was geared at saying Manu might’ve gotten hurt if he was trying to block somebody who dunks hard … Now who is the hardest dunker in the League? Maybe Dwight, maybe K-Mart, but you could at least argue it’s LeBron. Tyreke didn’t play yesterday either but I don’t hear anybody complaining about his name being mentioned.

02.25.10 at 9:02 am

fallinup

On an actual note about an actual game played by players that played last night. Yesterday reaffirmed to me why i think the Dallas trade was the best move over all. Butler to me was the cherry on top. But look at the 5 blocks for Haywood. Dallas has length now. Length enough to contend with La’s bigs but still let Dirk roam free. And Dirk was having his way with LA last night.

Can we just get to the Western Conference Finals already… LA and Dallas… that will be the series to watch.

02.25.10 at 9:02 am

Fish

Be a while before the Rockets adjust to losing Landry. He was their defensive soul this year.

02.25.10 at 9:11 am

dagwaller

Wow, great Smack today. Big ups for the analysis of the Manu play; so often, we hear about guys “getting banged on” etc when they go up for a block, especially with a superstar involved. Much respect for pointing out when it goes the other way.

Bucket soup? Priceless.

Schenscher. hhahahaha

02.25.10 at 9:18 am

Mike Mihalow

Manu’s block was sick. Kinda like his block on Wade last season. Here it is:

02.25.10 at 9:25 am

Chaos

Jay-Z was prolly wearing shades cuz Beyonce socked him in his eye….

If Lebron aint playing, dont mention his name, its other people that can dunk hard too, Dime

Bucket soup, son, nothing like it. was it chunky?

Brandon Jennings exerted a lot of energy when he played at the beginnin of the year and seems like he could never pace himself like the other rookies

02.25.10 at 9:29 am

Jayo

Mike Rice: “If you can’t beat (Rasho) Nesterovic and Bargnani down the court, you don’t deserve to score.”

The truest statement of the year!

02.25.10 at 10:17 am

Dennis Castro

Glad to see Ranger and Poppi bring up what I was going to say.

I mean, is Dime contractually obligated to mention Lebron James at least once a day on their site? Sure seems like it.

Josh Smith dunks harder than anyone in the L, but he must not be good enough to jock by Dime on a daily basis.

02.25.10 at 10:40 am

Ekstor

@Beach Muscles

Tyreke Evans was mentioned in context. Lebron… not so much. Even that point that Manu might have gotten hurt against a different dunker was out of context… since the real story being told was that Durant was slowed and had one of his dunks blocked.

I actually don’t mind the LeBron reference… but I understand the point others are making.

02.25.10 at 11:11 am

mavs all the way

keep the mavs love flowing. i hear you guys.

bring on the east!

02.25.10 at 11:12 am

Claw

I’m a LBJ fan, and I didn’t like it either, give props to Manu that block was sick and came out of nowhere.

Watching the Lakers/Mavs game and Laker fans help me out here and see if I’m bias because I have Gasol on my fantasy team but is Kobe the worst pick and roll initiator? Each time he did a pick and roll Gasol’s guy would double and you would think Kobe would dish but doesn’t and tries to dribble around the double.

Fish on the other hand would hit Gasol on the P&R and Gasol had two easy layups. Kobe was killing me, I’m yelling pass the f**ing ball! Gasol was the guy killing teams while Kobe was out, hook the Spaniard up!

02.25.10 at 11:23 am

Ian

“Good thing it was Durant and not LeBron”

yes dime good thing cuz manu might make your boy look like a bitch. to whoever wrote that line gtfoh.

question
bron nuts is it confortable to type with them all over your keyboard?

02.25.10 at 11:25 am

Mike Honcho

But if it’s bucket soup….isn’t it already in a bucket???

And Dime talked about the whole LBJ thing, with a day dedicated to LBJ during the beginning of the season, I think….They said they talk about LBJ, because he’s the biggest marketing magnet for the NBA, just like Jordan was back in the day….so if this was the 90’s we’d always be hearing about Jordan……..either way,
Dime:LBJ::ESPN:Bad slang & Brett Favre

02.25.10 at 11:38 am

eyes

The constant Brandon hate has to come from the Slam Cover. It isn’t his team like Evans & he’s in a different situation hence winning/playoffs. Which should count for something. Stats don’t mean anything but I forget what day in age were in. Collison did that in garbage time yesterday. BJ hardly played & the offense goes through Bogut,Salmons,Delfino & then BJ. Skiles has him playing his way now. Hey who cares if they’re WINNING. Rookie Wall Stats & lose or poor fg % no highlights & losing the R.O.Y. While managing to prove everybody wrong. Hopefully make the playoffs, Play for Skiles, Be a selfless teamate.

Make up your mind. When he was scoring he was A.I. & selfish. Now he’s dumbed it down & winning he’s struggling & hit the wall. HATERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I know you guys love Lebron,Durant,Steph Curry,Ty Evans, & Kobe. Wade is just okay. BJennings is so so. JJ & Melo come beneath your man crushes. I know one thing if you don’t like the person. He probably has more game than hype which counts anyway.

Awards are opinionated & way bias anyways. Who cares. Most of the judges & people giving them out. Have agendas & never played the damn sport anyways. Why didn’t Lebron win the ring this year & next? It has everything to do with everybody else & not him.

Fantasy Stats & percentages don’t make the player. Stats wise Lebron is better than Kobe & easier to play with. Game wise it’s not even close & neither is it to Wade. Yet Nike & Stern along with Dime/Bounce. Have to PUSH Lebron till no end. I just wonder what people are going to say? Our opinions don’t really count. You could lead most followers to believe anything. Let me guess. Collison & Flynn have moved up in the R.O.Y votes. If you ask Skiles who is R.O.Y. would be. I guarantee he wouldn’t say Brandon Jennings.

02.25.10 at 11:52 am

deeds

That last line if funny, but for what it’s worth Andrea Bargnani is arguably the fastest 7 footer in the league. Although I think it is mandatory for Dime writers to take at least one shot at raptors fans per post.

02.25.10 at 11:55 am

eyes

Derek Fisher & Jordan Farmar have to be two of the worse guards in the league. Top 10 at least currently. I don’t care what either has done in the past. Farmar couldn’t survive in the Big East. Fisher has never been a PG. Just a clutch shooter because he had them in that situation in the 1st place. That’s the least he could do. Ron respects Kobe way too much. Lamar isn’t comfortable coming of the bench. Gasol is softer than a 2012 therapeutic bed. Shannon Brown Triangle or nothing isn’t a guard period. He has no Guard skills. dribbling,passing or shooting. Stand Still I’ll give you slightly. The rest of the guys I won’t start.

I’ve officially given up on Andrew Bynum. Injury Prone & maybe softer than Gasol. The Lakes are in trouble. Don’t be mad at me K & Lakeshow. Some guard play could help. Andre Barrett anyone? Cheap & more than serviceable.

Again I tell you. Ask Lamar Odom who Daryll”Showtime”Hill
or Ron Artest who helped him win his 1st Hunter College championship against Marcus Williams & Sundiata Gaines? I wonder why he isn’t in the league. It has nothing at all to do with him not being good enough. Cedric Jackson on the Cavs is taking both Dre & Show’s spots on the roster. Let alone he could start for many teams in the league now. He’s thrashed Raymond Felton,Daniel Gibson,Sebastian Telfair,Smush Parker,Jarret Jack,Rafer Alston. I could keep going but hey. I’m just a crazy guy. If the league & its fans only knew what it was missing. The only reason he isn’t in the league. Was his college choice. You don’t go to the league from St.Johns. That is a big reason no recruits go there. Marcus Hatten could also tell you about Daryll Hill. Marcus may have been in your eyes a better player & gotten further in the Tourn. That was also to him having a better team & coach.

Watching the league some days. I just watch in amazement how bad its regressed. All those in control have allowed this & don’t have a clue or care to get it back. If for nothing else at least the fans deserve better for their money. Lets stop lying & putting such garbage overall on the floor. Let them in folks I’m sure you all could take all the credit. No matter how great the coach or city is. The team has to have legitimate players to execute wins & loses. New York is in desperate need of something resembling a basketball team. Do your research & see for yourself. Don’t believe everything you read & see. Just like if I had a forum. Certain players would get more pub though I’m sure it would be deserved. I’m not with hype because it’s not real & fades. It has no substance.

02.25.10 at 12:11 pm

Adam

Stern banned the players from chewing straws, owners need to drop that dude before he kills our league.

02.25.10 at 12:57 pm

eyes

Daryll Hill also had 32 & 12 against who I believe is still the R.O.Y. overall. They lost by 1 point. Again I dont know anything about basketball. I don’t do fantasy basketball. I’ve actually played from C.Y.O. to College. You could even ask Brandon Jennings about his time playing in NYC. Show would most definitely kill Steph Curry. I know this because he shut down JJ Redick in college the year he was P.O.Y. When I speak on Daryll Hill I speak on all the players everywhere who have the talent & abililty to help teams in need now. Yet have no agent or anybody willing to take a chance due to money or ties. This more than anything is the reason for lack in talent. The N.B.A. would quicker take a former player or coach kid rather than someone deserving. I’m glad Michael Jordan son gave up. He knew & I still dont know why he’s that bad.

Lastly people in the league aren’t better than those not in the league for the most part. After your top 10 or 20 everybody else is interchangeable. For some more reference points. Ask OJ mayo about Corey Fisher. Rudy Gay/Ben Gordon/Chris Quinn/Vince Carter/Chris Paul about who Daryll Showtime Hill. Dribbles & plays like Will Bynum but way more of a Point Guard. He just hasn’t been discoverd which is a shame. Chris Duhon has been & look how he turned out. Same for Mike Conley/Acie Law who were lottery picks.

Think why a player like Jeremy Hazell isn’t nationally known. Yet some seem to think Wesley Johnson is the next coming of what? Same for Sylven Landesburg & he’s politically correct. There are so many talented players in the country yet media only promotes the few they want.

All you hear about is John Wall who’s a freshman. Yet Evan Turner is just as good or maybe better. No media hype. How about Roy Williams not getting any blame for how bad he’s coached an unprepared North Carolina team. The ACC can’t be better than the ACC this year. Duke isn’t better than anybody in the Big East except for maybe St. Johns. Let’s look. Erik Barkley struggled to make the league. This trend had started from Felipe Lopez & Zendon Hamilton. Not in the league anymore. Chundney Gray,Mo Brown,Lavar Postell,Marcus Hatten,Omar Cook,Daryll Hill,Ryan Williams,Mason jr,Justin Burrell. Who on any other prominent teams in the country. Namely any ACC school. Would have possibly been lottery or 1st round.

Their still talent. It’s just the people picking it have no clue or are a generation behind. St. Johns needs a NY Coach. Tiny Morton or Bob Mckillop from Davidson. Even Mo Hicks from Rice would be a good choice. You need a players coach that understands the city & its players. No reason Kemba,Hazell,Ebanks,
C.Kelly,M.Glover,J.Famous, & some role players couldn’t have been ranked top 10 & contested for a championship. Yet you have players like Lamont Jones,Dexter Strickland,Edgar Sosa who go to schools. Were coaches have a dislike for the NYC style of play. They’re destined to fail. Let’s stop fixing the problem & get to the cause. We’ll all benefit in the long run. The kids especially. In all reality that is what most important. If a kid is happy he automatically becomes a better student.

02.25.10 at 1:12 pm

Mr. TKO

As much as I dislike the constant Lebron nutt hugging that I’ve heard from everybody since he first made the league, today’s comment doesn’t bother me. They said Manu got a nice block but if he had went up against somebody that dunks hard (unlike Durant, he’s silky smooth not Power Dunker) he would have got murked.

Now I hear what ya’ll saying about you could have named Dwight or Stoudemire who also dunk hard, but that would have been more of a stretch since they’re both big men who play the 4/5.

Durant is a 3 sometimes 2, Lebron is a 3 sometimes 1. It sounds better matching KD up with another 3

So as much as I Love to see people taking off them Rose tinted Lebron glasses, I think you guys are being overly sensitive today. Just today only though, feel free to deflate the ego of LBJ fans any other day

02.25.10 at 2:02 pm

Dave

got a headache reading all of these posts.

I say 50-50 chance the Hawks will make a run to the Finals with Joe Johnson hitting the buzzer beater in LeBron’s mug. Crowd goes silent. duh duh duh, duh duh duh. Priceless.

02.25.10 at 2:18 pm

LakeShow84

Holy Shit EYES.. Take it easy lol

Well both teams played hard.. And i do agree Kobes holds onto that ball a WEE BIT too long when running that pick and roll with Pau.. then Pau NATURALLY assumes Kobes bout to jack one and turns his head, misses the pass, then Kobe proceeds to filet mignon his ass on national TV.. rough life lol but its looks like Kobes presence ITSELF makes Pau softer..

And poor AB couldnt BUY a whistle last night.. but he needs more moves too hes getting predictable out there..

“Last night they got Dwight Howard to pick up two fouls 20 seconds into the game and take a seat”..

^ See what i mean ^

what superstar sees foul trouble as much as Dwight?? And even with all the bullshit dude gets from the refs in a NEGATIVE manner he still goes on to drop INSANE #’s..

THATS DOMINATION..

02.25.10 at 3:36 pm

Claw

Since the All Star break Dwight Howard has been the MVP of the league. I hate how he has not developed his inside game over the years but it’s like he went to Hakeem’s Post Move School during the AS break because he has come back a monster.

Bogut also has been impressive. The Bucks are coming up in the East, Salmons has helped that team out with the loss of Redd.

02.25.10 at 4:45 pm

K Dizzle

@ Eyes
I couldn’t read all your posts cuz topics kept switchin up but I did get this:
1) ACC sucks this year and Roy should be coachin up his UNC team. TRUE
2) Showtime Hill got skills. True, but 6 foot 2-guards are a dime a dozen. Hill ain’t that much better than say Marcus Hatten was, but if u under 6 feet and aren’t named Cgris Paul, Will Bynum or Aaron Brooks, u need to go to Europe. I don’t see Hill as that much of a plymaker, while the 3 dudes I listed are. And Earl Boykins and Nate are just freaks…
3) Not mad about u sayin Lakers are in trouble. All I know is we went 4-1 without Kobe, won close at Memphis and lost close at Dallas. I don’t get too defensive about regular season losses no more. Real Laker fans don’t really care. We’re first in the west and we’re just waitin for the playoffs. Just like I said last season, team is startin to get bored cuz we don’t think anybody out west can beat us…4 times…..in LA. We keep hearin about Cleveland, Orlando and Boston so that’s kinda the end goal…but we won’t sleep on Denver and Dallas.
For real tho, there’s about 25 teams that wish they had the “troubles” we got

02.26.10 at 2:43 am

GMC

you guys should mention my fellow husky rip, his FT shooting was terrible and he missed 3 in a row when they were down by 4

02.26.10 at 9:52 am

marcus the great

i think its funny how someone will correct Dime on something in their post, and you scroll up to see it, but Dime has corrected it already. good job guys lol